Diner deluxe Bob Bob Ricard in Soho has unveiled a new look wine list that champions good value Champagne, including Dom Pérignon 2008 at £24 a glass.
Designed out to evoke the feeling of dining inside a vintage Orient Express carriage, Bob Bob Ricard has become famous in London for its ‘Press for Champagne’ button. Owner Leonid Shutov is a keen wine collector and Champagne lover, and wants to give diners the chance to try cuvées by the glass that are rarely on pour in the capital.
His new wine list offers a minimal mark up on Dom Pérignon 2008, with bottles priced at £138, while Bollinger Special Cuvée costs £15.50 a glass, and £89 a bottle.
Pol Roger Brut Reserve NV meanwhile, is listed at £90 a bottle, just £8 more than it cost when it first appeared on the menu in 2009 priced at £82 a bottle.
The maximum mark-up on wines is capped at £50, however expensive the bottle. House wines start at £6 a glass for a Languedoc red blend and Picpoul de Pinet.
Among the red wine highlights on the new list is Château Smith Haut Lafitte 2005, priced at £183 a bottle; G.D. Vajra ‘Le Albe’ Barolo 2014 at £90; and Marqués de Murrieta Gran Reserva 2012 at £93.
Burgundy lovers can get their Puligny Montrachet fix via bottlings from Domaine Bzikot 2017 priced at £94; ‘Domaine François Carillon Les Enseignères’ 2016 at £109; and Domaine Leflaive 1er Cru ‘Clavoillon’ 2013 at £170.
A longtime lover of Chateau d’Yquem, Shutov lists the 1998 vintage of the revered Sauternes at £29 a glass, while a glass of celebrated South African sweet wine Vin de Constance will set you back £12, and Taylor’s Quinta de Vargellas 1996 just £8.
“People thought I was mad when I introduced the pricing model we have at Bob Bob Ricard, but I am glad to have stuck to my guns. It’s an unabashedly ‘special occasion’ restaurant, and those occasions should also include the best wines,” Shutov said.
“The maximum £50 mark-up means our guests can enjoy some of the world’s finest wines, Champagnes and sweet wines at prices they won’t see elsewhere, confident that they are getting outstanding value for money whatever they choose to spend,” he added.
